SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
While Blake is spending time in Oxford while his mother does research, he ends up coming across a strange book. Eventually he learns that this is no ordinary book but one with a magical history that goes back to Gutenberg. And someone is desperate to take it from him.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Blake Winters is an average boy who dislikes school and reading. He worries about his parents and thinks they may be separating. He tries hard to please his mother while at the same time has a hard time trusting her. He also has a strong desire to have something of his own, and not to share with his sister.
Duck Winters is the younger sister to Blake. She too worries about her parents' relationship. She doesn't share most of her feelings with her brother. Apparently she is really smart, I say apparently because it wasn't apparent to me. But I was shown Blake's annoyance about it.
Juliet Winters is Blake's and Duck's mother. She is doing research for her new book in England while trying to keep her children out of trouble.
Diana Bentley is the wife of Giles Bentley. Both are members of a historic book society.
Prosper Marchand is an Oxford professor who seems to be interested in Juliet.
Jolyon is a professor at Oxford who has knowledge of Endymion Spring.
Endymion is the young apprentice of Gutenberg in the 1400s.
PACING & ENDYMION
The story starts in the 1400s and introduces an apprentice to Gutenberg named Endymion. He ends up meeting Fust and getting to know that man's apprentice.
Normally, jumping back and fourth between two stories helps with the pacing of a story. We cut off one with a cliffhanger, and go the next. The pattern continues throughout and the reader is left feeling breathless. That doesn't happen in this story and I found the story slow.
Unfortunatly, after reading the introduction, I assumed these characters were done. They fell flat on the paper and I had no interest in them. So surely any other discovery regarding these books would be revealed in the present.
Wrong. We go back multiple times and each time I was left bored. Endymion was less interesting in every way. Not that Blake was written great, he just had my sympathy with his worries about his parents.
BLAKE AND DUCK
Blake and Duck are the two main characters (besides the flashback characters). I also think their relationship was supposed to be the most important. Even more so than the relationship between Blake and his mother.
But the main conflict between them is that Blake isn't as smart as Duck, so he is jealous. He still cares about her. And I think that love was supposed to push the climax. But Duck's intelligence isn't used that much (she comes up with pretending to have to use the bathroom and finds a collapsable bookshelf), and no past experiences are shown to explain Blake's jealousy. So the relationship feels shallow.
We may not know what past experiences that Blake has had with Duck, but it is clear how he feels about her. Blake is protective of the book he found, and has to point out that it is his, and not Duck's. He says the paper dragon he found is his as well, and has nothing to do with her. Also that Endymion Spring chose him and not her.
There is one scene where Blake says she is dumb to keep wearing her raincoat, like she has since their parents had a big argument. Because it won't save them.
What isn't clear is how Duck feels about Blake's feelings. She never addresses them or shows any sign as to why their relationship is less than good. Because of this, their relationship is not well developed.
BLAKE AND HIS MOTHER
For the majority of the story, Blake and his Mother are at odds. Usually Blake wanders off and gets in trouble and his mom is furious. It could have come across as loving but Blake had previously been suspected of messing up books in the library by her. So it comes off as accusatory.
But I didn't really undersand why Juliet thought so badly of her son. Before he admitted to sneaking into the library, there is no mention that he had ever caused any trouble. So I was left confused at her suspicions, expecting a revelation later on, revealing that Blake has been a troublemaker. But none ever occurs.
Later on Blake is given a book only to find out that his mom is making them stay in Oxford longer for her research. She didn't just come out and tell him, instead bribing him with the gift first. His reaction is anger, realizing he should have never trust his mother. Again, I was left waiting for a revelation showing his mother had a history of lying or at least being less than honest. That never occurs either.
BLAKE'S GIFT
Early on its said that Blake doesn't like reading because he can't concentrate on it. And then later on when he gets a book, he holds it, flips through the pages and enjoys the scent of the paper. I thought, why would a boy who dislikes reading revel in the scent of a book? It felt inconsistent with his character, as though the author forgot he wasn't a booklover. It's a small point, but something I noticed.
DUCK AND THE BOOK
Blake eventually ends up losing his book and later finds out that Duck found it and never told him. I didn't understand why. Duck knew that Blake had a strong attachment to it.
She is supposed to be the smarter one, so she should not have felt threatened by Blake (even though they argued about who the book belonged to). Did she feel the need to constantly prove herself because she wanted to prove her worthiness to her parents? I don't know.
As I mentioned before, we never learn if Duck knows why her relationship with her brother suffers. Perhaps she has been this selfish and deceitful in the past.
Lastly, this adds nothing to the story. We get a short amout of time that Blake is anxious about the book and if anything, the story is stalled. If something came from Duck and Blake's relationship, then I would understand this aspect of the story.
THE WORLD-SPOILERS
The Book of Endymion Spring is usually blank but sometimes reveals riddles that predict the future. For the most part I found them vague and uninteresting. Although it does point Blake to a second book, revealing that the two books can be used together. It's called “The Last Book”.
The Last Book reveals words of knowledge and power when a child's blood is taken. The villain in the climax reveals that the knowledge of witchcraft is in its pages and can help them get whatever they want, like money or power.
Fust is in this story and the Faust who made a deal with the devil is mentioned by Juliet. As well as theory her husband had about him being a real person. It sounded interesting, as well as a world of demons ready to cut deals with humans. But we don't get any of that. Nor do we get a main character who has any interest in what Faust and demons being real would mean. What could be a deep mythlogy ends up shallow and uninteresting.
I hoped for some connection between Endymion and Blake when I realized the story was going to go back and fourth between their separate time periods. But I never saw it.
EX LIBRIS SOCIETY
Blake learns of this society at Oxford, where he meets Jolyon who reveals the history of the society and the book of Endymion Spring. Later on he attends a meeting, where Giles Bentley and Diana are. As well as Paula Richards, the Oxford librarian.
BLOOD OF CHILDREN-SPOILERS
Back in the 1400s, Endymion ends up opening Fust's box and getting bitten by the snakes. Turns out Fust needs blood of children and Endymion was tricked into opening it so letters on the paper could be revealed. Peter reveals this and that Endymion must run away and hide the dragon skin since it cannot be destroyed.
Back in the present, Blake reads a poem about the blood of innocents but doesn't understand it until later. But even then, he kind of just ignores it.
PSALMANZER-SPOILERS
Blake and Duck see a weird homeless guy reading a blank book. They assume a connection between him and the book and try to find him (kind of a stretch, he could just be drugged out). They can't, instead he finds them, by leading them to him by his dog.
He introduces himself and tries to explain the riddles. How the power of their book may be passing away. But he doesn't know who the person of shadow is. Later we see a photograph of the founding members of the Ex Libris Society, turns out he was in it too.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DAD-SPOILERS
Early one we learn that Blake's dad remains in another town, and his relationship with his wife is shaky. They have a history of arguing and getting angry and it Blake worries for them. For some reason, he seems to put the blame on his mother, or at least we assume so, since his small interactions with his father seem nothing but positive.
Eventually, Blake learns that the reason they are here and their father is not, is because he lost his job. He has been looking for work while they were gone and Juliet has been working on her research to help take care of the family.
The odd thing is, when the time comes where Juliet reveals this to her son, it is told passively. We jump from the event happening, to being told that it happened. And instead of seeing the look on Blake's face as he hears it or his thoughts of disbelief we just see the aftermath. Seeing how important this matter was to Blake, it makes no sense to not show it in real time.
ENDYMION'S GOODBYE
Back in the 1400s, Endymion finally escapes with the dragon skin. With the help of Peter and his fiance, Christina, they end up sneaking him away during a festival. Endymion is supposed to have a close relationship with these two.
So when they unceremoniously push him and vanish, I was told how upset he was. But I felt nothing because I had never seen any relationship develop. I had merely been told, when the story jumped back to Endymion, that Peter had slept beside his new friend for months and he had become like a brother. That was all.
CLIMAX-SPOILERS
Duck and Blake manage to sneak into the underground libraries, after Duck pretends to have to go to the bathroom. Kind of easy, but I guess they hadn't acquired any skills to get in otherwise. The book leads them on to where they meet the villain. Duck gets taken and Blake has to confront the kidnapper.
THE PERSON IN SHADOW-SPOILERS
Turns out the person in shadow is none other than Giles Bentley's wife, Diana. I honestly had no idea who it would be and had little interest or information that was given to me.
I suppose I got information, like the exposition from Psalmanzer. But no little hints here and there that would point me in any one direction. Besides the bookshop where Giles bought the book that Blake wanted, and the meeting of the Ex Libris Society, there wasn't much interaction between Blake and Diana.
There was Psalmanzer, Jolyon, Prosper Marchand (teacher who flirted with Juliet) and Paula Richards (Oxford librarian). Not too many people to chose from and only Psalmanzer really held any interest from me.
On another note, Diana gave some exposition about Marchand but I didn't have any interest in the backstory of a character I barely knew.
BLAKE'S GUILT
When Duck is kidnapped, Blake feels awful. He suddenly realizes he has been obsessed with his book even after being told that he was putting himself and Duck in danger. To be fair, he did encourage Duck into the darkness that magically appears in the underground library. But for the most part, Duck was all for it. She was even the one that helped him get in and find his away around.
I wish he had addressed just why he was so obsessed with the book. Did he think he had something to prove? Did he want to solve a mystery on his own? Did his jealously of his sister have something to do with this? I don't know because Blake never addresses his reasoning. Just admonishes himself.
CONCLUSION
Blake is likable enough, and I didn't dislike Duck. But neither character felt fleshed out enough. I didn't understand exactly what motivated them either.
I was told that Blake was jealous of his smart sister but I didn't really see why.
I understood that Juliet distrusted her son but I didn't know why.
And I understood that Blake had a rocky relationship with his mom but I didn't know why, beyond a marriage in crisis. So the characters and their relationships were lacking.
The story was average, but it suffered from slow pacing and a lack of of cohesion. I didn't see how Endymion Spring and Blake had anything in common or why they both ended up with the book. I wanted a connection between both stories but they felt unrelated.
Neither Jolyon or Psalmanzer play any clear part of a mentor character to Blake. Psalmanzer could have been interesting but we only get one conversation with him.
I never felt any real sense of urgency, and Blake thinking he or Duck was going to die, and then brushing that off, didn't help things.
I give “Endymion Spring” one and half stars.
